Save Biodiversity 03/08 - Update from Countdown 2010

In this Issue

• Feature: After the biodiversity summit
  • Paying for biodiversity
  • Motion for the oceans
  • Biodiversity: Benefits for all
  • Local action at global conference
  • From Kobe to Bonn to Nagoya
• Internal: Countdown 2010 Partners’ Assembly
• Focus on... Berlin
• Do it yourself: Sign the resolution for wilderness in Europe
• State of biodiversity: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity

^ Dear Countdown 2010 Partners, dear Readers,

After the two weeks at the UN Biodiversity Summit – and the Countdown 2010 Partners’ Assembly in Bonn last month, it’s time to take a look at what has been achieved and determine what remains to be done.

The trend is clearly positive: governments and high-level policy makers have committed to the 2010 biodiversity target once again, while mayors of cities across the world have called on States and regions to provide framework conditions that will enable them to work. At the same time, economists are starting to realize that natural resources have a value and protecting them can generate revenue.

However, it’s not time to sit down yet! 2010 is coming up and much remains to be done. We hope that reading this newsletter will inspire you to join the many who are already taking action today. The next appointments on the agenda is the conference “The European Union and its Overseas Entities: Strategies to Counter Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss”, which will be hosted on Reunion Island from 07 to 11 July 2008, under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Enjoy reading!

Sebastian Winkler
Head of Countdown 2010
June 12, 2008

^ Feature: After the biodiversity summit

The ninth Conference of the Parties (COP 9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was held from 19-30 May 2008, in Bonn, Germany, immediately following the fourth Meeting of the Parties (COP/MOP 4) to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. More than 4,000 delegates representing parties and other governments, UN agencies, intergovernmental, non-governmental, indigenous and local community representatives, academia and industry participated in the meeting. It was a massive undertaking: Some 7000 negotiators, experts and policy makers gathered in Bonn to discuss a wide range of issues concerning biodiversity. Here’s a brief overview of the main results of this last big summit before the 2010 deadline:

• Earth Negotiations Bulletin: Summary of CoP 9 decisions
• BMU: Summary of CoP 9 decisions (pdf)

^Paying for biodiversity

Germany took the lead in financial support to biodiversity conservation in the High-Level Segment in Bonn on 29 May. Noting the linkages between poverty eradication and biodiversity conservation, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged EUR 500 million for protection of forests and ecosystems between 2009 and 2012 and an additional EUR 500 million every year thereafter. The Norwegian Minister of the Environment Erik Solheim followed suit closely thereafter, pledging an additional EUR 600 million annually for the next three years to protect forests globally. In his speech, Mr. Solheim also called for work at the grassroots level and involvement of indigenous peoples. 

• Merkel’s speech: Billions for biodiversity

^Motion for the oceans

On its last day, the Conference of the Parties adopted two groundbreaking decisions on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity that will provide important tools for conserving marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, otherwise known as the high seas. The first calls for scientific criteria to be used to identify areas in need of protection in open ocean waters and deep sea habitats. Delegates also adopted scientific guidance for designing representative networks of marine protected areas and agreed to hold an expert workshop to review and consolidate progress on the identification of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction that meet the scientific criteria.

The second decision regards a “de facto” moratorium on ocean fertilization, with the exception of small-scale scientific activities. This decision came after scientists reviewing the evidence on ocean fertilization concluded that “based on scientific projections, there is the potential for significant risks of harm to the marine environment” even if direct scientific evidence on the environmental impact was still lacking.

• Wikipedia: Ocean Fertilization

• IUCN: Marine miracles at Convention on Biological Diversity

^Biodiversity: Benefits for all

One of the most important achievements of the conference was the adoption of the "Bonn Roadmap" for the negotiation of an international regime on access and benefit-sharing (ABS). The regime would create rules for the access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge, and ensure that its guardians benefit from its use. Sigmar Gabriel, German Minister of the Environment, had earlier reminded delegates that protecting biodiversity is a Herculean task. This kind of agreement, he argued, will provide a valuable instrument in the future.

• IUCN’s Daniel Klein explains Access and Benefit Sharing

• CBD Decision “Access and Benefit Sharing” (UNEP/CBD/COP/9/L.27) (doc)

^Local action at global conference

150 mayors and key decision-makers of local governments from over 30 different countries issued the “Bonn Call for Action” during the Mayors’ Conference “Local Action for Biodiversity” (26-28 May, Bonn). The call reinforced the role of local governments in biodiversity protection. The mayors called upon all other levels of government to consult local governments upstream on discussions that can affect biodiversity, as well as to recognize and endorse local contributions to global strategies.

“The local level of government, closest to citizens and the economy, plays a key role in the successful implementation of international framework conventions,” reads the Call for Action. “Cities and towns have a fundamental role in the implementation of the UNCBD Convention. They therefore appeal for substantial support in their endeavors and for policy framework conditions which enable them to fully unfold the local potential for protecting global biodiversity. In addition, they offer to work with national governments and the international community as reliable partners for implementation, communication and outreach.”

Mayors asked for a clear prioritization of major biodiversity goals, tasks and resources, pointing out that a common understanding is needed to unfold the full potential of local governments to contribute locally and globally to achieve the 2010 biodiversity target.
 “Biological diversity ensures the survival and quality of life of cities,” Ms. Dieckmann, Mayor of Bonn, told Ministers attending the biodiversity summit. “It is therefore in the interests of the cities that urgent action be taken; after all they shall be considerably affected by the disappearance of biological diversity and the impact of climate change.”

• Bonn Call for Action
• Webcast of the side event on Cities and biodiversity
• Countdown 2010’s Activities on Local and Regional Authorities

^ From Kobe to Bonn to Nagoya

G8 Environment Ministers met during the Conference of the Parties in Kobe, Japan. Ichiro Kamoshita, Minister of Environment of Japan, reported that the meeting discussed further activities on achieving the 2010 biodiversity target and adopted the Kobe Call for Action for biodiversity. Along with Masaaki Kanda, Governor of the Aichi prefecture, and Takehisa Matsubara, Mayor of the city of Nagoya, he invited delegates to the CoP 10 meeting in Nagoya in 2010. Japan will host the 10th Conference of the Parties in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, in October 2010. The meeting will assess progress made towards achievement of the 2010 biodiversity target and establish ways to effectively address the unprecedented loss of biodiversity, compounded by climate change. 2010 will also be the international year of biodiversity.

• Kobe Call for Action for Biodiversity
• Nagoya – Host of CBD COP10

^Internal: Countdown 2010 Partners’ Assembly

More than 150 Countdown 2010 partners from business, civil society, science centers, local authorities and governments gathered in Bonn from across the globe on May 22nd, International Biodiversity Day, to chart a way forward toward 2010.

“This is a meeting where creative energy comes together to define the way for 2010 and beyond,” commented Sebastian Winkler, Head of the Countdown 2010 initiative. “If we wait for the formal negotiations to take place, we risk missing our target and concentrating on the process rather than substance. Instead, our intention is to connect stakeholders from different areas in a dialogue that will help drive the agenda on biodiversity. The outcomes of the Countdown 2010 Partners’ Assembly will enrich the formal negotiations under the CBD on defining the post 2010.”
In recognition of their work towards the 2010 biodiversity target Countdown 2010 awarded activity prizes to a small selection of partners presenting their projects. The first prize, a carbon-neutral tip to Barcelona for the World Conservation Congress, went to Cascais Natura. The second prize, a photographic book on marine ecosystems, was awarded to two groups: the Directorate for Nature Management of Norway and the Herning Municipality from Denmark.

• Cascais Natura
• Directorate for Nature Management of Norway
• Herning Municipality from Denmark
• Webcast from the Partners’ Assembly
• ENB Report from the Partners’ Assembly

^Focus on... Berlin

On May 22nd, International Biodiversity Day, Mrs. Ingeborg Junge-Reyer (Stellvertretende Bürgermeisterin – Vice Mayor of the city of Berlin) – signed the Countdown 2010 Declaration in Berlin’s famous Alexanderplatz. Mr. Tamás Marghescu, Regional Director of Pan-Europe and Permanent Representative of the European Union, represented IUCN and Countdown 2010.

The city committed to working on the integration of the habitat network in the Landscape Programme, managing the territories of the Natura 2000 network, implementing programs for special animals like birds, bats, amphibians and others, forest management after FSC and Naturland; children education of in the field of nature and support of the nature-associations in Berlin.

The event was framed by a presentation of about 300 8-9 year old children from 10 classes in Berlin. The kids presented plants and animals of the habitat-network in Berlin, showing the public what is necessary to develop or to regenerate the biotopes and habitats. Thanks to the research carried out in class on the problems of the animals and plants, the children were able to give Mrs. Junge-Reyer some hints on ways to help them. There is a great interest to go on with this kind of projects with schools.

• Berlin

^Do it yourself: Sign the resolution for wilderness in Europe!

Later this year, the European Commission will take a stance on how to best manage wilderness in Europe. The Countdown 2010 partner Wild Europe now invites all environmental organizations to support a petition to Commissioner Stavros Dimas to “take urgent action to protect Europe’s remaining large areas of natural habitat with non-intervention management, also known as wilderness or wildland, which are threatened by inappropriately located logging and development.”
Please send your short statement of support to Toby Aykroyd, co-ordinator of the Wild Europe Initiative. If you want, include your thoughts on exactly what guidelines from the EC would be most appropriate for managing wilderness by 15 July.

If you are interested in the topic, mark your diaries: At the end of May 2009, the European Commission will support the first Wild Europe Conference.

• Download the text of the Resolution on Wilderness Areas

^State of biodiversity: The Economics of Ecology and Biodiversity

Pavan Sukhdev, study leader of “The Economics of Ecology and Biodiversity (TEEB),” presented the preliminary results at the Countdown 2010 Partners’ Assembly. Taking stock from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the TEEB study examines ways of measuring the true value of nature and of ecosystem services. The aim is to make a case for conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.

The current situation is described in terms of decline of biodiversity and ecosystem loss, analyzing the consequences of continuing with “business as usual.” Ecosystem economics is a new field that still presents many challenges, argues the report, in particular to develop and apply suitable methodologies for ecosystem valuation. These challenges must be met in order to provide policy makers with appropriate tools to incorporate the true value of ecosystem services into their decisions.

The first phase of the TEEB study concludes that subsidy allocation strategies must take into account future needs. Rewarding ecosystem services, ensuring that ecosystem damage is accounted for and sharing the benefits of conservation are some of the mechanisms the study proposes for policy makers.

The second phase of the study will complete a “science and economics framework” to help shape valuation exercises and recommend a methodology to assign value to ecosystems. The aim of phase two of TEEB is also to engage end-users at an early stage, so that their needs are taken into account by the valuation process. The final ambitious goal for the last part of the study is to put together a toolkit for policy makers and administrators to support them in policy reform towards a sustainable development.

• Pavan Sukhdev: Reversing Biodiversity Loss - From Costs to Benefits (Presentation for Countdown 2010, pdf)
• European Commission Website on TEEB

For more information please contact info@countdown2010.net or visit www.countdown2010.net

This newsletter is issued bi-monthly by Countdown 2010. We welcome comments, feedback and contributions to info@countdown2010.net. Previous issues of this newsletter can be found at www.countdown2010.net/article/newsletter.

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